Argentine Jorge Bergoglio elected Pope

Posted: Wednesday, Mar 13th, 2013BY: TODD GUILD

FIRST PHOTO: Pope Francis speaks from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Wednesday. SECOND PHOTO: At Our Lady of Assumption Church in Pajaro, Father Francisco Montes shares his excitement about the naming of the new Pope Wednesday. (Photos by the Associated Press and Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian)

WATSONVILLE — Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope Wednesday, becoming the first pontiff from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium.

He is also the first South American to become Pope, which prompted Latin Americans, which make up 40 percent of the world’s Catholics, to celebrate across the world.

Father Francisco Montes of Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Pajaro said he was “happy and excited.”

Montes said the new Pope took his papal name of Francis from St. Francis of Assisi, the humble 13th-century Italian preacher who lived a life of poverty and who led the church through a troubling time in the mid-1200s.